It was raining heavily, the sky was not open for ten months, and it was rainy autumn in Liaodong again. The carriage creaked and drove through the post road, and the dead grass on the roadside was crushed in the mud.
Kang Yingqian opened the curtains and looked worriedly at the difficult land of Liaodong.
The first thing that caught the eye was a misty rain curtain. The soldiers were lined up in a queue, and they couldn't look at each other. I don't know how many people there were, still moving forward in the rain.
Wearing single clothes, they had nothing to cover their bodies, and they didn't even have the simplest weapons. They were driven by the suppressing soldiers and marched hard in the wind and rain.
From time to time someone in the team fell down and was immediately whipped with a sharp riding crop.
"Jingxiu, do you still want to join the army?"
Kang Yingqian let out a long sigh, lowered the curtains, and rubbed his old hands that were like dead branches.
Kang Jingxiu, who was sitting next to him, was like a frog waking up from hibernation. His body shivered, his mouth grew wide, and he was speechless. He pushed the charcoal-fired copper stove in front of his uncle to keep Kang Yingqian warm.
"Uncle, what's going on outside the customs? Are they going to fight?"
The uncle and nephew just passed Shanhaiguan yesterday and walked on the wide and straight post road of the Liaoxi Corridor for three consecutive days.
Just yesterday, Kang Jingxiu was still surprised that the post road in western Liaoning was wide and could drive four carriages side by side. The road was smooth and smooth as stone. The young man was immersed in the grand narrative of the powerful empire. Unexpectedly, today, he would catch a glimpse of the great empire. The other side of Qi.
"Eunuch Cao said that these are the new soldiers who have been recruited and they are going to North Korea and Shandong to gather."
"The poor bones by the Wuding River are like those in a spring boudoir dream. I don't know how many more people will die this time."
The young and energetic Kang Jingxiu heard this and said angrily:
"The people in the pass are almost out of food, and the imperial court is still going to war. Are they going to attack the Japanese country?"
Kang Yingqian ignored his nephew, took out an ancient book from his luggage, and read hard with his old eyes very close to each other by the dim candlelight.
"Uncle, can you see clearly? How about I read it to you?"
The motorcade suddenly stopped, and there was a noise in the rain. Several young eunuchs accompanying them shouted to the groom at the front what was going on. In the wind and rain, an urgent voice came:
"Masters, the front was destroyed by the flood. The wheels are too heavy to pull. Please come down and help me."
A young eunuch stuck his head out of the carriage in front, pointed at the carriage and cursed:
"Do you know what's in this carriage?"
"This is a great gift from our ancestors to honor the Emperor's Longevity Festival, which includes rhubarb sprouts, cabbage, radish, green onions, and pears. Our ancestors have said that these five thousand kilograms of big yellow duck cabbage, five thousand kilograms of big yellow cabbage, and five thousand kilograms of big pear must be delivered before October 20th." Choose the best from radishes, five thousand catties of green onions, and five thousand catties of large pears and send them to Shenyang. If you miss the deadline, you will be killed!"
"This master, if you miss the deadline, you should be killed. The road is impassable. Even if you kill my whole family, it will be useless. If you delay for a while, you will encounter a bandit..."
Kang Jingxiu opened his mouth when he heard this in the car: "Uncle, who is this ancestor?"
Kang Yingqian looked out the window and wrote lightly:
"Dongfang Zhu was a medicine merchant in Linqing. Later, he was eunuched by the Supreme Emperor and became an eunuch. He became a figure like Wei Zhongxian and had great power in the government and the public."
Kang Jingxiu was surprised: "Uncle, how do you know this?"
There was chaos outside. Cao Bian angrily jumped out of the car, stepped on the muddy road, and shouted at the eunuchs to push the cart in front.
Kang Yingqian waved to his nephew and motioned for him to come over and help.
Kang Jingxiu rolled up his sleeves and was about to jump out of the car when he stopped at the door.
Kang Yingqian had no choice but to explain: "Dongfang Zhu and I are old friends, and I got the Vajra Powder from Linqing."
~~~~~
On October 19, the fourth year of Taichu, amid the miserable wind and rain, the convoy arrived at Shenyang City along the imperial post roads extending in all directions.
On the 20th, the Supreme Emperor summoned Kang Yingqian alone in Dazheng Palace.
Since Kang Yingqian was dismissed and left Liaodong, the two have not seen each other for twelve years.
Now that Lao Kang is in his final years, Liu Zhaosun is no longer the young man he once was.
By the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month this year, Emperor Wu Ding would be thirty-seven years old.
As the saying goes, there is no confusion at forty.
However, the closer to the age of forty, the more confusion the time traveler has.
"Kang Jianjun is getting better and better. How are you doing in Jize County?"
"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. Except that the Vajra Powder cannot be sold, everything is fine."
The monarch and his ministers exchanged pleasantries for a while, but no real feelings could be seen. The Supreme Emperor asked Hu Bo to give Kang Yingqian a seat and waved away.
There were only two of them left in the empty hall.
"Lu Xiangsheng and Qiao Yiqi, there has been a change in the journey, which will delay our arrival in Shenyang for a few days. Now that Kang Supervisor is here, please tell us what Daqi should do next."
Kang Yingqian was quite shocked by Liu Zhaosun's frankness, but he still spoke cautiously.
"I dare to ask, what happened to Lu Xiangsheng, Qiao Yiqi and the others on the road?"
The Supreme Emperor blurted out: "Thieves."
"Rogue thief?"
Liu Zhaosun ignored Lao Kang's surprised look and continued:
"Yes, they are actually some retired veterans. Their money was stolen by some people in the civil affairs, and their lives were not secure, so they took risks..."
"oh."
Kang Ying said oh and did not ask any more questions. When he was idle in Jize County, he had imagined the current difficulties of the empire countless times.
However, he did not expect that it would reach this point, and even the normal transfer of officials would be threatened.
"Kang Jianjun, let's not discuss this today. Let's talk about countermeasures first."
The time traveler is still as anxious, impatient, and impatient as ever.
Kang Yingqian shook his head and sighed, and then said after a long time:
"I have been wasting my time in Jize County all these years. Besides, I am old and not as good as Mr. Sun Ge and others. How can I have any countermeasures?"
The Supreme Emperor said anxiously: "The situation is critical now, Supervisor Kang must not refuse!"
Seeing that the Emperor was sincere, Kang Yingqian mentioned his three strategies: upper, middle and lower. "
"oh?"
Liu Zhaosun seemed to be grasping a life-saving straw as if he was about to die, and said quickly: "Tell me and listen."
"The best policy is to stop the issuance of food stamps and resume the circulation of silver and copper coins; gradually abolish the "Qi Dynasty Land Acquisition System" and issue laws to protect private land and private property; allow people to do business and maritime trade; allow the circulation of fields; allow some people to get rich first. Pay help later; stop fighting with neighboring countries; resume trade with Ming, Japanese, and Western countries; reduce the army and lower the status of combat soldiers; cancel the landing in Japan and the Northern Expedition to Rakshasa; reduce the fiscal corvee of all provinces, prefectures, and counties Power was taken back; Yingkou, Penglai, Hankou, Yangzhou and other places were established as treaty ports...
The middle strategy is to issue an imperial edict to continue to exploit farmers and support His Majesty's so-called industrialization. In this way, the riots in the provinces may be delayed, several armies in the pass will betray Da Qi, and the progress of seeking self-reliance will be slowed down. "
Liu Zhaosun was not interested in either strategy, so he continued to ask:
"So, what's the next step?"
Kang Yingqian said murderously:
"Continue a new round of purges, confiscate corrupt officials, get rid of several military leaders who do not obey orders, such as Qin Jianxun, raid internally, squeeze farmers, conduct external campaigns, plunder foreign vassals, and invest more troops in Nanming and Japan. To feed war with war, to burn trillions of people as firewood, to illuminate the so-called avenue of His Majesty. However, according to the current situation, Daqi is at the end of its rope. If this strategy is implemented, within three years, the world will be boiling, inside and outside the customs, everywhere If the grass is rough, there will be Chen Sheng and Wu Guang in every province.”
Liu Zhaosun shook his head and said: "I am not willing to disarm, nor am I willing to reverse the trend."
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